Limits are a good thing. In our American society, we have a tendency to see them as bad. We feel that limited choices go against our very nature and philosophy of life. But in everyday life, we are compelled to limit ourselves. Creativity and efficiency abound in a limited situation.

Is the tax cap the answer to our clear overtaxing and overspending in Maine? I do not know the answer. But if limits are placed on all levels of government, it will behoove them to have to make choices and, thereby – in the best of all possible worlds – spawn a more streamlined and effective government.

In Lisbon, we have a 2-1/2 percent property tax, 61 percent of which goes toward schools. We just built a brand new school, we have computers in the middle school – with the likelihood of extending those into high school – yet our kids are not even reaching the 50th percentile in test scores in math, reading and writing; these scores have been relatively stagnant for the last 10 years. This story is reported regularly in the papers about municipalities throughout the state.

Money is not the problem; the problem is one of priorities. Is Maine’s Department of Education more concerned with the appearance of our schools than with the actual education of the future of our state?

Limits are our friends. They cause us to think and act outside the box, spurring us to formulate creative solutions.

Susan Strickland, Lisbon

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